from washington the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over three decades the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. the mclaughlin group is brought to you in pat by american petroleum institute. it's the 31st annual mclaughlin group year-end awards 2012 part 1. here's the master of ceremonies john mclaughlin. >> biggest winner of 2012. pat? >> slam i can revolution, john, captures egypt, gaza, tunisia, north mali and soon syria.

the revolution is at hand. >> obamacare and new a new and welcome urgency on gun safety and gun violence. >> mark. >> the accumulation of personal information on vast numbers of americans which was brilliantly exploited by the obama team to get out their vote and is going to be exploited by virtually every merchandiser in america. >> obama's campaign manager and the rest of the team for the ground game they pulled together which the romney team laughed at first. they are not laughing now. >> mark. >> thank you. magnificent. >> is this it? >> let's see what conac has given us. the biggest winner of 2012 vladimir putin. he overcame massive opposition protests, maneuvered through constitutional loopholes, served as president, then prime

minister. and then when re-elected as president again of planet earth's biggest nation, russia. vladimir putin biggest winner of 2012. >> "biggest loser," pat? >> general david petraeus. cia most famous general of his generation caught in a honey trap and kwon. >> the nra national rifle association which has no answer to why americans should be allowed to buy and possess assault weapons with rounds they can shoot off and kill little children. >> mark. >> the 23 million americans who remain out of work and have been out of work for a long period of time. >> seldom aidle son who backed candidates with millions of dollars, including mitt romney, and though lost. >> how many millions? >> all total? >> five or something? i think it's in the neighborhood of the 70s. >> yeah. >> right. he is moving along. the biggest loser of 2012 lance

armstrong for using performance-enhancing drugs. armstrong was stripped of his tour de france titles and sponsor contracts worth 15 to $18 million. biggest loser. okay. best politician. >> wisconsin governor scott walker. he put through his right to work laws. he didn't want a recall. he was an inspiration for republican governors. it's a move gone all over the country. >> best politician bill clinton, who in a single speech at the democratic national convention injected energy and enthusiasm into the voters. >> herman cain was the leading republican contender. however, he was also the worst politician, but i'll get to that later. >> i had a long shot in naming chris christie because he firmed up his base in a democratic

state. and i think at a time when the republicans now are seeing a resurgence among their moderates. i think in the long run he may prove to be the big winner of the year. >> these are all very interesting choices but they are all domestic. the best politician of 2012 was german chancellor angela merkle. she had to walk a tightrope between her german voters who do not favor bailing out europe and the european union. best politician, angela. you got it? you can write that down. pat, put it in your column. worst politician. >> susan rice. she was fed these phony talking points by the cia. she went on a defensive. and president obama left her, john, twisting slowly, slowly in the wind. she's gone. >> she'll still be our u.n. ambassador, though, pat. i give worst politician to mitt romney who never quite came

across as human. and he lost. in part, because of his personality. >> she is going to stand you up, ambassador? >> yes. >> herm an cain again because a man who runs for the presidency who didn't think that his personal life would ultimately blow up presidency. >> does he have a job? >> he does. i don't know that he has -- >> he is a great -- he has a great future in talk-radio, i am sure. >> clarence, something for us? >> yes. worst politician, clint eastwood, although he is a good actor. >> this is very domestic. i will though it out on a larger scale for you. does that help you any, pat? worst politician 2012 egypt's mohammed morsy. heralded as a states man after his role in mediating the gaza cease fire and plunged his country into chaos by grounding him executive of absolute power which caused an outcry and tried to rush through a

constitutional referendum. worst politician. okay. most defining political moment, pat? >> governor chris christie embraces barack obama and hurricane sandy. bye-bye mitt. >> anyway, bye-bye mitt happened earlier than that. the 47% tape that was leaked that had him stating that he didn't have to carry about 47% of the public. also the decision to uphold most of obamacare was another defining political moment. >> when i share eleanor's view, i think that video of obama on that 47% of the american public whom he said were happily dependent on the american government -- >> romney. >> who did i say? >> obama. >> obama. definitely not obama. >> go ahead with it. >> but that -- i don't think romney did this with anticipation that it might suddenly come out. but when it came out, it was the worst political moment of his career. >> you think so. >> you can tell this is not

rehearsed because i picked the 47% moment, too. it said so much about where the debate has gone. i think it's a turning point now. >> i will give you the true turning point. take this down. clarence, use it in your column. the most defining moment mitt romney's no show after the shore after it was hit hard by hurricane sandy. romney left the headlines to obama, who looked great, by the way. and chris christie creating romney's momentum which he never recovered from. that ec he's something that occurred previously here but i think it's been stated. okay. >> stated at greater length. chief justice john roberts. great can conservative goes south on obamacare breaking the hearts of conservatives all over america. >> what did he do. >> ? he voted for obamacare, to uphold it as constitutional and he said it was a tax. not a fee. >> well, it needs more

clarification. >> south carolina senator jim demint, who is resigning his senate seat and becoming the president of the heritage foundation, which in effect is an admission that the tea party forces where he was their mentor and benefactor, that they are a spent force in the senate at least. >> what kind of a salary does that job have? >> a million plus with a little financial incentive. >> a million bucks a year. >> that has nothing to do with him going over there, though? >> i think it has something to do with it. >> i would say the abandonment by this administration of a 30-year ally. namely, mubarak in egypt in such a way that it lost and undermine the confidence of the entire arab world in the loyalty and credibility of america as an ally. >> i put morsy in there. >> i did. >> it goes to president obama from the marijuana growers in california because he promised he was going to back off of

marijuana prosecutions in states where medicinal marijuana had been legalesed and they have continued up there in particular. this has been a very sore point in his base. >> well, do you think the president ought to know what the virtues of marijuana are? >> he ought to know and he ought to know before he makes a public statement before -- >> why. he know? >> because he's president. >> oh. anything else? >> policy. >> afghan president hamid karzai who owns his own regime security to the u.s. backing but he openly attacks u.s. allies accusing of america of fostering corruption in afghanistan. and worse turn coat of the year karzai. okay. most boring, pat? >> the alan green span joe lieberman trophy this year, john, goes to harry reid. >> on my side of the political

agenda, mitch mcconnell is a winner. and i would also include jon huntsman, who i think had an opening to really make an impression in the republican primaries and he sure didn't. >> does mitch have a problem in kentucky? >> well, there is a singer who has her -- a senator who has her eye on his seat. >> what is she doing? >> clint eastwood's unbelievable gig at the republican convention that put he everybody to sleep and took the momentum out of that entire evening on television. >> how can you improve on that? >> i have a tie between clint eastwood's chair and donald trump. which way would you go? >> that's a tough one. most boring, the olympic opening ceremony. a showcase of all things british. harry potter, james bond, mary poppins. it paled in comparison to

china's extravaganza. most charismatic, pat? >> rg3. redskin rookie of the nfl. maybe mvp. has set this city on fire. >> marco rubio. senator from florida whose articulate to the point of almost being dem ogic. . but he is a riveting speaker and he has a future. >> are you afraid of him. >> no. i just pointed out his attributes. >> he is richly republican. you know that? >> right. but the democrats have their bench, too. >> i mean, after that, you know, the democrats still going to embrace you? >> i still think that bill clinton's speech at the democratic convention was the most exciting moment of that convention. turned around the whole convention and once again revealed the great talents of bill clinton. >> does he save it? >> you are showing your brilliance again. >> i absolutely agree. a better job than barack obama did. >> i want to add to the clinton

tribute. the most charismatic bill clinton. for stellar performance of the democratic national convention. his 40 minute speech was critical for a second term for barack obama. it redefined the global economic crisis. he described it as a product of republican thinking. no question bubba still has it. wouldn't you say so? >> absolutely. >> he did a good job. >> we will be back after this

okay. bummest rap, pat? >> hurricane sandy was caused by global warming. what a croc. >> eleanor? >> i can't let that go by. i'll meet you in the parking

lot afterwards. okay. bummest rap scapegoating susan rice on benghazi. >> you don't think she brought it on herself? >> no. >> mark? >> the bummest rap to my mind was the assumption or the allegations that the supreme court on obamacare was acting out of politics and not out of their understanding of the law. >> clarence? >> yeah. i have susan rice on the top of my list. but i'll add and say nate silver's liberal bias proved to be a mythcal because he was dead on correct in his prediction on his election. >> the bummest rap. the rap recited by bill clinton to a long of democratic convention delegations that the republican party is responsible for the global economic crisis. experts say the cause of the ongoing crisis is trade imbalances creited by then president clinton about 20 years ago when he granted china most favored trading status and when he then negotiated world trade organization membership for china. you got that? >> you're going too fast.

i need to take notes, john. >> i will give is to you afterwards, pat. just have the check in the mail. fairest rap? >> lance armstrong is stripped of seven tour de france sometimes. deservedly so for his doping, secret clandestine doping and he didn't deny if and fight it. >> how many years did he do it? >> seven years. >> republican purr for voter id -- push for voter id's. >> the criticism of the republican managers of romney's campaign, including his bolsters. >> clarence? >> the rap that the tea party pushed the republican party too far to the right. proved to be very fair. >> the rap against italian cruise boat captain of the costa concordia. he capsized his boat show boating. striking rocks and then abandoned ship. dozens of passengers drive. past comeback?

>> best comeback, i hate to say it, it's al-qaeda. it is no longer maybe in afghanistan, but it is in pakistan. it is nigeria. it is in libya. it is in syria. it is in iraq. it is in yemen. and the whole thing is metastasized. >> romney in the first debate. president obama in the second debate. >> gabby giffords who came back from a real tragedy and is now back and deserves all the commendation that you can muster up. >> that's a lovely tribute and choice. >> massachusetts campaign was looking sad and troubled there for a while. but she has stuck to it and came out the winner. >> republican governor scott walker. this has been gummed up already by buchanan. despite a bruising show down recall, plus organized labors national money war chest lined up against him, scott walker

won handily. does he have a future? >> he does. and you copied mine pretty well. >> most original thinker? >> my magazine the american conservative, which an awful lot of people are looking at and commenting favorably on. something different than the consecutive interventionist. >> do you have a membership to that magazine? >> no, i don't get a dime for it. >> thanks for clearing that up. >> original thinkers misguided senate candidate todd akin in missouri, who says if a woman is legitimately raped the body shuts down and cannot conceive a pregnancy. >> fed chairman bernanke who literally redefined the role of the federal reserve board and changed monetary policy dramatically and helped us get out of the recession. >> really? you are right on the money. >> original thinking jim messina, campaign manager for obama's campaign who rewrote the book in a lot of ways, number

one. outside of that -- >> the most original thinker chief justice roberts for defining president obama's health care debate as a tax. some say it's a real leap his ipad. >> clarence? mark? >> the picture of obama and christie after the hurricane hit. that was the single best photo that changed the whole campaign. >> that was a killer for a while. >> scott van doozer. remember that name. he was a florida pizza shop owner who gave obama such a big hug that it took obama off the ground. >> i am going to elevate this

conversation. the best photo op this year was the space shuttle discovery and the shuttle endeavor flying in their final flights on top of 747 airliners. remember that? >> oh, yeah. >> how uplifting that was. okay. enough already award pat. >> georgetown law student sandra fluke griping about the fact that she is not being given free birth control pills. >> what show was that on. >> rush mentioned that. but we don't want to get into that. >> i would dispute the characterization birth control pills are part of -- >> quickly. >> enough already, the billion spent on the attack ads. although i must admit they did their job. >> the tea party blaming romney's moderation for the reason why the republicans lost the presidency. >> clarence. >> debt ceiling fights. although second prize goes to "honey boo boo." >> enough already. the fiscal cliff. it's not a cliff. it's a metaphor that refers to

two single acts of congress signed by the president. spending cuts and tax hikes that can be easily changed as they were created. so enough already about a cliff. okay. capitalist of the year, pat? >> french actor gerald depardo. he flees from france to belgium to avoid the income tax. gives up his citizen shap. mort, you ought to take a look at that example. he fled the country. >> i will get back to you. >> mayor bloomberg, who put $250,000 into the maryland same-sex marriage campaign which succeeded. also, he used his money to defeat a pro-gun democratic in california. money well spent by the mayor of new york. >> fed chairman bernanke who saved the financial system which is at the core of capitalism. >> beautifully stated. >> jim demint from his move from the senate to the heritage foundation. i want to tell you mr. capitalist. >> with that salary?

capitalist of the year mark zuckerman. for his $200 million contribution to columbia university for their institute for the mind and the brain. congratulations, mark. >> here here. >> you didn't mention my contribution to columbia. my school, my alma mater. >> how much did you give them? >> loosen it up, will yeah? get it out of the sock. under the mattress. wherever it is. >> we will be right back with person of the year.

okay. here it is. person of the year. pat buchanan. >> mohammed morsy of egypt. he goes from the muslim brotherhood to president of scrimmage to pharoah. he is winning the constitution. he is going to be a formidable

power for a long time. >> the 14-year-old girl shot in the head by the taliban because she was an activist in wanting girls to go to school. molalla. she is on her way to recovery. we will hear more from her as she lives a good long life. >> the latino community whose political involvement won the election for obama. >> interesting. clarence? >> david axlerod with the obama campaign. >> the person of the year is federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. he and other like minded bankers have kept the world from skidding into a deep depression. to the friends and family of the sandy hook victims, our thoughts and prayers and are love are with you. next week tune in for the 2012